S.Korea April dept store sales growth at 3-mth high

Hyundai Department Store Co

30/05/2016 03:00

SEOUL, May 30 (Reuters) - South Korea's department store 
sales in April rose at their fastest pace in three months, final 
government data showed on Monday, as warmer weather and more 
holidays in the month pried open consumers' wallets. 
    Combined sales at department stores run by Hyundai 
Department Store  069960.KS , Lotte Shopping  023530.KS  and 
Shinsegae Co  004170.LS  rose 4.3 percent in April from a year 
earlier, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. 
    This accelerated from a 0.3 percent growth in March and was 
the best performance since a 9.0 percent jump in January. 
    An extra public holiday in mid-April thanks to the 
parliamentary election helped boost sales, which were also 
underpinned by warmer-than-usual weather, the trade ministry 
said. 
    Sales of well known foreign brands rose the most among 
department store goods, surging 8.6 percent on-year in April as 
the average daily high temperature last month reached 20.3 
degrees Celsius, up from 18.8 degrees last April. 
    The same data showed discount store sales rose 1.7 percent 
in April from a year earlier, rebounding from a 4.6 percent 
decline in March. 
    Sales were also helped by the additional holiday and warmer 
weather as apparel saw the most demand out of discount store 
goods, the trade ministry data said. 
    Preliminary data from the finance ministry had shown April 
department store sales would rise 8.0 percent on-year and 
discount store sales up by 0.2 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N187023 
 
 (Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) 
 ((christine.kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5665; Reuters 
Messaging: christine.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA ECONOMY/RETAIL